Here are five tips for success in the New Year from Bonnie Milletto, author of Dedicated to the Cup: Nine Ways to Reinvent a Life!

What’s the No. 1 reason people hesitate on moving forward to pursue what is truly most important in life? I’ve found it to be nearly always fear of some sort. Ranging from absolutely paralyzing terror of making mistakes to negative self-talk, fear can control you! Here are five tips to help you overcome your fears and capture success in 2014!

1. Believe in yourself

Have faith in your abilities. With self-confidence you can succeed.

Believe in you, and others will believe in you. Picture yourself as succeeding. Everything is a mirror and others can only be a reflection back of that mirror.

Who do you want people to see when they look into your mirror?

2. Take a risk

Make a small or large step in the direction of your dreams and don’t be afraid to fail. If you do, think of the risk as failing forward. Successful people always have more failures in their lives than average people do. People who have no failures also have few successes. Everybody gets knocked down—the key is to get back up!

3. Compare to no one

When we compare ourselves to others we will always come in last. There will always be someone smarter, more beautiful, thinner, fatter, younger, older, richer, faster…STOP! Be the best version of you. What you are today is already more than enough. What you choose to add to your life tomorrow will be your cherry on top!

4. Choose to be happy

As Abraham Lincoln said, “People were just about as happy as they made their minds up to be.” It does not get much simpler than that.

When you get up in the morning, you always have two choices: to be happy or to be unhappy. That is all there is to it. Choose to be happy.

5. Be grateful for everything in your life and love yourself

List all the people in your life you are grateful, then list all the things that are positive in your life. Love yourself despite feeling unlovable. We may be flawed, but we’re all worthy of love and respect.

Cheers

—————

Bonnie Milletto is a Portland, Oregon, based international speaker who finds joy in all things and loves a great cup of coffee. Her new book Dedicated to the Cup: Nine Ways to Reinvent a Life! offers motivational stories on real life, from real people who have prevailed through life’s challenges and setbacks to lead passionate, successful, and engaging lives. It is now available for purchase on her website or on Amazon for Kindle.

Sip. Savor. Embrace.

Listen as the author, Bonnie Milletto, shares her inspiration for writing “Dedicated to the Cup: Nine Ways to Reinvent a Life!”